ESPN.com - NFL - Take 2: Jets vs. Bills Friday, November 5, 2004
Scouts Inc.
Tuesday, our scouts filed their advance advance scouting report on this
week's matchup between the Jets and Bills. Now they're back with a second
look.
One of the ways Buffalo offensive coordinator Tom Clements is getting
rookie TE Tim Euhus more involved in the offense is using WR's Eric Moulds
and Lee Evans as decoys. Clements will line Moulds and Evans up to Euhus'
side of the field. At the snap of the ball Evans will run across the
middle and Moulds will run upfield. Euhus will then slip behind Evans and
slide out into the flat. If the Jets' linebackers and safeties get
preoccupied with stopping the Bills' receivers, Euhus should be wide open
and he rarely drops passes that he should catch.
Euhus will have to play a bigger role because No. 3 WR Josh Reed is listed
as doubtful with a knee injury and Buffalo cut Bobby Shaw two weeks ago.
Sam Aiken would replace Reed if he can't play and Aiken hasn't made much
of an impact with the limited opportunities he's received thus far. It
doesn't help that Nickel back Derrick Strait, who has missed the last four
games with a foot injury, is listed as probable and he should play. Strait
has the quickness and athletic ability to blanket Aiken. With Aiken
struggling to get open consistently, Euhus must take advantage of the
space created by the Bills receivers' stretching the Jets' defense
vertically.
Buffalo SS Lawyer Milloy has played very well since returning from the
broken forearm that forced him to miss the first five games of the season.
Milloy's ability to stuff the run and deliver big hits in coverage is
well-known but he is also an excellent blitzer. The Jets' pass protection
must account for him at all times, especially with this game in Buffalo.
Milloy does an outstanding job of anticipating the snap count and the
Bills' fans will make it difficult for Jets QB Chad Pennington to use a
lot of hard counts.
Buffalo RDT Ron Edwards has recorded three sacks over the last three games
and he is starting to make an impact as a situational pass rusher. Edwards
shows good agility for his size and he explodes off the ball when he is
fresh. However, Bills' defensive coordinator Jerry Gray is also helping
his defensive tackles by stunting the tackle in one direction and blitzing
a linebacker in the opposite gap. The Jets' offensive linemen must
communicate when they combo block a defensive tackle so they don't both
leave the initial block to pick up the blitz. If they do, the tackle will
get a clear path to Pennington.
Buffalo occasionally lined both DT's Sam Adams and Justin Bannan up along
the offensive line last week. They even pulled the agile Bannan around the
play-side corner. While Adams and Bannan shouldn't receive all of the
credit, both of the Bills' rushing touchdowns came on plays they were in
the game. Buffalo hadn't rushed for a touchdown since early December of
last year so expect Adams and Bannan to continue to get some snaps on
offense in short-yardage situations.
The Jets' leading receiver is FB Jerald Sowell with RB Curtis Martin
trailing him by just one catch. While Pennington doesn't want to risk
turning the ball over by throwing into coverage, he also needs to keep the
Bills honest and start finding his receivers downfield. Milloy is fast
enough to run with TE Anthony Becht and he will start to jump Becht's
routes should Pennington regularly dump the ball off underneath. Finding
WR Santana Moss or Justin McCareins in the vertical passing game would
force him to play deeper and make him a little less aggressive. In
addition, WLB Takeo Spikes has the athletic ability to stay with Martin in
man coverage and the ball skills to turn any mistakes into interceptions.
Expect the Jets' corners to give the Buffalo's receivers a healthy cushion
on obvious passing downs. Defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson wants to
blitz Bills QB Drew Bledsoe but he doesn't have the personnel to stay with
the speedy Moulds and Evans in man coverage. As a compromise he'll play
his corners off the ball so they can keep Moulds and Evans in front of
them. While this should help prevent the big play downfield, it will allow
the Bills' receivers to get open quickly. Moulds runs with good power and
Evans has great speed so the Jets' corners must tackle well.
Buffalo's offense needs to get off to a strong start because the Jets'
defense is making excellent adjustments at halftime and it has allowed one
second-half touchdown over the last three games. Playing well early would
also help the Bills build a first-half lead that gets the crowd more
involved in the game. With that in mind don't be surprised to see Bledsoe
take some chances downfield in the first quarter.
MLB Sam Cowart, who has missed the last five games with a knee injury, is
listed as probable and he will likely see some playing time. While he
won't replace Jonathan Vilma as the starter, he could still make an impact
when the Jets go to their 3-4 fronts. Cowart and Vilma both have excellent
range and they won't have to cover as much ground when there are four
linebackers on the field. The Jets should be in a better position to
defend against McGahee's speed when Cowart lines up next to Vilma as a
result.
Last week Buffalo's secondary got caught playing inside-out near the goal
line and it may have cost the Bills a touchdown. The Bills corners must
contain and force the back to turn inside where the pursuit should be
ready to make the play. Martin has excellent vision and patience. He will
bounce the run outside when he sees a corner or outside linebacker
collapsing to the middle and he will be difficult to stop once he turns
the corner.
Special Teams
Buffalo KOR Terrence McGee returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown
last week and he now has two returns for touchdowns on the year. He will
be working against a Jets' kickoff cover team that is ranked in the bottom
half of the league so he could have another big game. PR Nate Clements is
also explosive and he broke some long returns last week. He faked a
reverse on one return so the Jets' punt cover team must play with
discipline.
Bills P Brian Moorman is handling the tough conditions in Buffalo very
well. He has shown good power and accuracy kicking into the wind. With the
strong winds in Buffalo and a chance of rain Sunday, expect Moorman to
help the Bills win the battle of field position.
Prediction: Jets 20, Bills 17
Scouts Inc.
Tuesday, our scouts filed their advance advance scouting report on this
week's matchup between the Jets and Bills. Now they're back with a second
look.
One of the ways Buffalo offensive coordinator Tom Clements is getting
rookie TE Tim Euhus more involved in the offense is using WR's Eric Moulds
and Lee Evans as decoys. Clements will line Moulds and Evans up to Euhus'
side of the field. At the snap of the ball Evans will run across the
middle and Moulds will run upfield. Euhus will then slip behind Evans and
slide out into the flat. If the Jets' linebackers and safeties get
preoccupied with stopping the Bills' receivers, Euhus should be wide open
and he rarely drops passes that he should catch.
Euhus will have to play a bigger role because No. 3 WR Josh Reed is listed
as doubtful with a knee injury and Buffalo cut Bobby Shaw two weeks ago.
Sam Aiken would replace Reed if he can't play and Aiken hasn't made much
of an impact with the limited opportunities he's received thus far. It
doesn't help that Nickel back Derrick Strait, who has missed the last four
games with a foot injury, is listed as probable and he should play. Strait
has the quickness and athletic ability to blanket Aiken. With Aiken
struggling to get open consistently, Euhus must take advantage of the
space created by the Bills receivers' stretching the Jets' defense
vertically.
Buffalo SS Lawyer Milloy has played very well since returning from the
broken forearm that forced him to miss the first five games of the season.
Milloy's ability to stuff the run and deliver big hits in coverage is
well-known but he is also an excellent blitzer. The Jets' pass protection
must account for him at all times, especially with this game in Buffalo.
Milloy does an outstanding job of anticipating the snap count and the
Bills' fans will make it difficult for Jets QB Chad Pennington to use a
lot of hard counts.
Buffalo RDT Ron Edwards has recorded three sacks over the last three games
and he is starting to make an impact as a situational pass rusher. Edwards
shows good agility for his size and he explodes off the ball when he is
fresh. However, Bills' defensive coordinator Jerry Gray is also helping
his defensive tackles by stunting the tackle in one direction and blitzing
a linebacker in the opposite gap. The Jets' offensive linemen must
communicate when they combo block a defensive tackle so they don't both
leave the initial block to pick up the blitz. If they do, the tackle will
get a clear path to Pennington.
Buffalo occasionally lined both DT's Sam Adams and Justin Bannan up along
the offensive line last week. They even pulled the agile Bannan around the
play-side corner. While Adams and Bannan shouldn't receive all of the
credit, both of the Bills' rushing touchdowns came on plays they were in
the game. Buffalo hadn't rushed for a touchdown since early December of
last year so expect Adams and Bannan to continue to get some snaps on
offense in short-yardage situations.
The Jets' leading receiver is FB Jerald Sowell with RB Curtis Martin
trailing him by just one catch. While Pennington doesn't want to risk
turning the ball over by throwing into coverage, he also needs to keep the
Bills honest and start finding his receivers downfield. Milloy is fast
enough to run with TE Anthony Becht and he will start to jump Becht's
routes should Pennington regularly dump the ball off underneath. Finding
WR Santana Moss or Justin McCareins in the vertical passing game would
force him to play deeper and make him a little less aggressive. In
addition, WLB Takeo Spikes has the athletic ability to stay with Martin in
man coverage and the ball skills to turn any mistakes into interceptions.
Expect the Jets' corners to give the Buffalo's receivers a healthy cushion
on obvious passing downs. Defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson wants to
blitz Bills QB Drew Bledsoe but he doesn't have the personnel to stay with
the speedy Moulds and Evans in man coverage. As a compromise he'll play
his corners off the ball so they can keep Moulds and Evans in front of
them. While this should help prevent the big play downfield, it will allow
the Bills' receivers to get open quickly. Moulds runs with good power and
Evans has great speed so the Jets' corners must tackle well.
Buffalo's offense needs to get off to a strong start because the Jets'
defense is making excellent adjustments at halftime and it has allowed one
second-half touchdown over the last three games. Playing well early would
also help the Bills build a first-half lead that gets the crowd more
involved in the game. With that in mind don't be surprised to see Bledsoe
take some chances downfield in the first quarter.
MLB Sam Cowart, who has missed the last five games with a knee injury, is
listed as probable and he will likely see some playing time. While he
won't replace Jonathan Vilma as the starter, he could still make an impact
when the Jets go to their 3-4 fronts. Cowart and Vilma both have excellent
range and they won't have to cover as much ground when there are four
linebackers on the field. The Jets should be in a better position to
defend against McGahee's speed when Cowart lines up next to Vilma as a
result.
Last week Buffalo's secondary got caught playing inside-out near the goal
line and it may have cost the Bills a touchdown. The Bills corners must
contain and force the back to turn inside where the pursuit should be
ready to make the play. Martin has excellent vision and patience. He will
bounce the run outside when he sees a corner or outside linebacker
collapsing to the middle and he will be difficult to stop once he turns
the corner.
Special Teams
Buffalo KOR Terrence McGee returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown
last week and he now has two returns for touchdowns on the year. He will
be working against a Jets' kickoff cover team that is ranked in the bottom
half of the league so he could have another big game. PR Nate Clements is
also explosive and he broke some long returns last week. He faked a
reverse on one return so the Jets' punt cover team must play with
discipline.
Bills P Brian Moorman is handling the tough conditions in Buffalo very
well. He has shown good power and accuracy kicking into the wind. With the
strong winds in Buffalo and a chance of rain Sunday, expect Moorman to
help the Bills win the battle of field position.
Prediction: Jets 20, Bills 17
